Saturday 05 August 2023

Psalm 92

Background

At the beginning of today’s story, three new characters enter the narrative, Lazarus, Mary and Martha of Bethany. Jesus is across the River Jordan at another Bethany noted as being the one identified in John 1:28.

We learn that Jesus knew his friend Lazarus was gravely ill but purposely stayed where he was, so that by the time he arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days. Tradition of the time taught that the soul lingered near the body for three days, after which there was no hope of life returning. Jesus waited to arrive until the fourth day, until things were truly hopeless, when the full impact of God’s power might be displayed. 

Do you feel like you don’t understand God’s design/plan in moments like this?

In the text there is a tension, a contradiction, between v. 5 ‘Jesus’ love for Martha, her sister, and Lazarus’; and v. 6 staying where he was for two more days. Out of his love for them, Jesus does not go immediately to his loved ones although they surely need him! This feels – well – cruel, as if God is playing with us, for God’s own self-glorification. But what’s happening here is Jesus is responding to the work and will of his Father--God, and not to the expectations of the listener/reader/or to human need.

In verse 13 the narrator of the story tells us that Lazarus is dead, then in verses 14-15 Jesus tells the disciples that Lazarus has in fact died and adds that he is rejoicing because the disciples may now come to faith. This is another strange sentence. The point that’s being made is that Jesus is seeking belief (v. 15), not that he’s seeking death, and that seeking belief is his motivation to go to Bethany. Despite the dangers of going there, he hopes his actions may bring the disciples to true faith. Despite the cross purposes, misunderstandings and risks, the group travels to Bethany together.

To Ponder:

• Can you allow yourself to consider that when something doesn’t happen as we wish or in a timeframe that we believe is important, God may nonetheless be purposefully at work in your life?
•  With whom do you travel?

Prayer

God, present in our lives through the work of your Holy Spirit, help us to experience the truth of that statement in ways that allow us to question, wonder, and explore while all the time deepening our relationship with you. Amen.